


Ghost of You

by Funfactskiddos1705



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I suck at tagging, Love, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Spencer Reid as Unsub
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:21:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28900305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Funfactskiddos1705/pseuds/Funfactskiddos1705
Summary: Spencer Reid never did not enjoy clubbing, but his Fiancé, Derek Morgan, dragged him out after a grueling case to enjoy some freedom and try to get away from the harsh truths that is there job. When Derek wakes, he notices that his Pretty Boy is no where to be found, leading him to suspect fowl play, knowing that he drove Spencer home the previous night.What lies ahead for the couple is unexpected, neither of them would have guessed that they had been stalked, or mostly that Spencer had been, for the last 3 years leading up to this abduction. The captures are a small government agency that experiment on people to make them "better" the best of the best people. Spencer entered their radar with his IQ of 187, but when making the best of the best, something breaks in a person, if that is for better or worse, no one knows.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Kudos: 3





	1. O’Keef

Some, well who am I kidding, most would describe Spencer Walter Reid, as well, an introverted, nerdy, stick-of-a-man who would rather spend his days locked up in a house then at some club down town with his fiancé. He was just over 6 feet tall, gangly and lithe, unlike his fiancé, who was toned and well built, he stuck out like a sore thumb anywhere besides a bookstore, college campus or anywhere that screamed academia. He sat at a rounded table, hunched over on a stool, he always had poor posture, with a light beer in his hands, thinking of how Derek managed to persuade him into this obnoxious environment. Sighing he recalled the events of the past 12 hours. _The coat-closet of a office that LAPD had put the BAU in was cold. No not just cold, icy, it chilled anyone to the bones that even entered it, but with the LA weather in the middle of June, it was far to dangerous for Spencer to wear a sweatshirt inside and risk forgetting it when he walked outside. Spencer stood, racking his beautiful brain, at the bulletin board with eight wide eyed children. None of it made any sense to him. The children were of different genders, ethnic groups and ages, the only thing in common was, well they were minors. They didn't even have the same school in common. He began to dig his right hand into his temple thinking. What could he not see? What was he missing? They thought sex trafficking ring, that still wasn't ruled out, but there was no signs._ _Nothing. Garcia had looked up record after record, anything that might connect the children together, even if it was the thinnest strain. Nothing had came up. They came from all over the city. Four boys, four girls. Spencer heard the door open, but didn't pay any mind, he knew that Derek had been coming in and out of the small environment to check in on him and refill his coffee, or get him anything he might need. "What's on that beautiful brain of yours pretty boy?" Derek cooed, calloused hands wrapped warmly around Spencer's shoulders. The warmth was welcomed, even needed. He leaned into it, taking as much as he could, being greedy. "I... I just don't understand. It doesn't make sense. Nothing..." Leaning back, he felt Derek's lips on his forehead. "I'm going to take a breath outside," Spencer sighed, thinking a moment away to freshen his eyes might help. "Don't lie to me, you know I know better than that," Derek flipped him around so they were eye to eye, booping his nose, as Spencer tried to lay a kiss on his cheek. "Alright, you caught me," Spencer put his hands up in mock surprise, "I'm going to smoke, do you want to come with me?" Spencer had been smoking since his dad left him, but it was only during the extreme of extreme stress, since he didn't want to_ _get arrested for stealing cigarettes, and he didn't have friends to buy them, he just went without. Everything changed after the Tobias Hankle case, he started to smoke recreationally, but never in front of the team, while reading ,at the dinner table, around his mom and especially not around Henry, it was his dirty little secret. Derek only found out because he caught him before they got together, admitting that he himself smoked in his youth, after his fathers death and it became really bad after Carl. They shared their secret with themselves, but the team was starting to catch on, but none of them cared. "Save me one," Derek kissed his nose, as Spencer_ _scrunched it up and giggled. God he could listen to that laugh all day long. They untangled from each other, walking to the door as Derek was now just staring holes into Spencer's ass. "6 minutes," Spencer muttered. "Yeah yeah, that's 6 minutes I get to spend with your pretty, tight ass in Heaven!" Spencer rolled his eyes, opening the door. Emily stood outside the door, obviously listening in, trying to look busy but failing. "Hi," Spencer waved, on his way to the door, but he was already inside. On a mission to ask Derek what 6 minutes had meant. "What the fuck was that?" She asked, leaning against the door frame. Derek only chuckled, knowing that no one else got Spencer's statics like he did, "It's just a statistic, don't worry so much, princess." Spencer walked outside, the hot air hitting him like a godsend. A shiver went down his spine, the cold air leaving his body, exhaling, and just as quickly he was sweating from the sun beating down. He was leaning against the brick, his head resting as he rummaged through his satchel for a back of Marlboro Menthol , honestly he would smoke anything, but this is what Derek preferred, so he just smoked this. He let the cigarette lay limply on his lip as he fumbled with his lighter. He usually had Derek light his cigarettes, even thought he had been doing this since he was 9, he constantly burned himself. Taking a long drag, he let his head rest on the brick, his eyes closing as his mind wondered through quantum physics, what him and Derek would do in the motel room that night and what had happened to these kids. It didn't make sense. If he didn't figure it out... if they... if they died. It was blood on his hands. He had failed these children. All for what? An IQ of 187 and he couldn't save the lives of eight children. Was he really cut out to be a part of the BAU. Anger swelled up inside him, smoke dancing on his lips, he loved the feeling, it made him feel in control. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and held it between his index and middle finger, palming at his eyes. All he could see were the children. Their photos, bloody and beaten. He stood, stiff as a bored and kicked the brick wall. He didn't even know he did it, until the sharp pain in his toe told him he had made a stupid decision , falling on his ass, he moaned. "Fuck, fuck, fuck" he bit his lip, and took the cancer stick back into his mouth. Taking another drag. Derek had just came outside, smirking to find his Fiancé on the ground, but his smirk faltered when he realized why. He rushed over, "Baby, are you okay what happened?" Rubbing his back, trying to soothe him as moaned in pain. "I'm fine Der, I just... I don't know, I did something incredibly stupid. I kicked the brick." Derek worked his converse off, revealing an orange sock with purple cats that Penelope had gotten him for Christmas. "I'm going to check for swelling do you think you broke it?" Derek couldn't hide the panic in his tone he was scared. This was his baby, this was his life, his all. Knowing that he did this to himself hurt worse than everything else. He took the cigarette out of Spencer's mouth and placed it in his own. "Derek I'm fine, let me get up. We have more important things." Spencer stressed, trying to push him off. He wasn't rough though. Spencer didn't have a bone in his body to be rough. He looked up with pleading eyes. "What could be more important than you?" Derek whispered. Tucking a strand hair away from Spencer's face. "Those kids... they need us."_ The light beer in his hand was still half full as he watched Derek dance. He always loved to watch him dance. He would've been out there with him, no matter how awkward his white dad dance moves were, if his foot didn't hurt and there weren't so many people. He noticed that not that many girls, and guys, for that matter hit on Derek, but that could be accounted for the ring on his left hand. He never took it off, even thought Spencer was always worried about him losing it in the shower drain. They wore matching silver bands, they agreed to change them to gold once they got married, but they both proposed at the same time accidentally. Spencer searched in his bag for a book, cursing when he remembered that he didn't pack any new reading, since they didn't stop by the house. Pulling out To Kill a Mockingbird, only to put it back in his back and pull out the pack of Marlboros. The lights were giving him a headache, as he downed most of his drink in a matter of seconds, anyone could tell you he was a light weight, he wondered how long it would be until he was drunk. He already knew the book by memory, eidetic memory and all, and he didn't see the point in trying to read when he couldn't focus. He listened as he shook the carton, watching his man, his, dance, the way his muscles moved under the tight green Henley. The way that it looked almost poetic. If Derek was a Greek god, he would be something like Ares, no, no, Apollo. The way that he looked was heavenly. Spencer knew that his man put the sun in the sky, even if it was just his own little imaginary world. He flicked the carton open to revel an almost full carton, enough for him and Derek for another couple of days and they had a carton at home still. He smiled, knowing that it was him and Derek til the end. He slipped the cigarette into his pink lips, O'Keefe was one of the only clubs in DC that allowed smoking, which is why they went. The team didn't accompany them when they went to O'Keefe, they usually went to Wrigley, but Spencer liked this club better, it was smaller and much more relaxed. He flicked the lighter, lighting the end, burning his finger and hissing in pain. He took another swig, trying to calm the panic attack that was inching closer and closer to taking control. Spencer felt cold, rough hands on his shoulders suddenly. This was exactl _y opposite of his fiancé that he was_ watching dance, and he froze. Fear taking over, his flight or fight repose taking over. "What's a handsome man like you doing all alone?" A hard, stone cold voice came, near his ear. He could feel the breath creep down his ear, traveling down the back on his neck, spiraling his spine and exiting his body and quickly as it came. The hand squeezed. "Please... let go of me. " Spencer chocked, " I don't like when people touch me, germ thing." He tried to reason out with this phantom figure that he was too scared to look at. The hand was lifted, and moved to face _Spencer._ The man was around 6'1 tan, not dark but definitely not of European decent, with dark eyes and a hearty smile. "My name is Riley," the man stated, looking at the other with any hope that he would speak. "Uh.. my names Spencer," Spencer choked, trying not to look him in the eyes. He was uncomfortable. He noticed that this man was in business attire, which was very uncommon for clubbing, even for Spencer who stood out like a sore thumb, this man was worse. He was in a full suit with dress shoes and tie. Spencer smiled, thinking of his options. "So can I by you a drink?" Riley offered, leaning on the table, leaving his newly shined show exposed to Spencer. "Sure what's the harm in one little drink, let me check what I'm drinking," Spencer flirted, leaned over to grab his bottle, hovering his smoke over the shoe. Lightly he tapped, letting the ash fall all over the leather. "What the fuck man-" Riley growled, grabbing Spencer by the collar, and yanking him up from the stool. "What was that for?" That didn't go exactly as Spencer wished, but luckily, Riley had made a fuss. His plan was working just not in the way he had hoped _._ Out of his peripheral vision, Spencer saw Derek making his way over, ferrous. Spencer raised an eyebrow at the man, " Did you know that statically, anywhere from 6 percent to 8.5 percent, of people state that they have had their drinks spiked, and well, I think you should talk to my husband about it." The word husband just falling out of his mouth, as if it was natural. Derek whipped Riley around, not letting the poor stranger think, swung hard, landing on the man's jaw. He grabbed Spencer and ran out of the club, who fumbled to grab his satchel. "I should've killed him for hurting you!" Derek growled, as they got to the truck. Rage filled his expressions _,_ as he backed out of the parking lot. He rested his hand on Spencer's thigh and Spencer rested his hand on his. _"We know that these children have no obvious connections, and, though we haven't ruled out sex trafficking, we cannot confirm this. The director has asked us to back down, at least until there is more evidence, if there will be any." Hotch's monotone voice rang out when the two men came back into the station. The team was sitting around in the office, shocked face. "But.. but... sir, will all due respect, these are children's lives we are talking about!" JJ whisper screamed, shaking as Emily rubbed her back as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "As horrific as it is, we have to step down, we have to go home and try to sleep, wheels up in 30. Let's get everything backed here and then go back to the motel and pack up there?" Hotch even sounded unsettled about the circumstances, but he had to play by the book. The team started to pack up the equipment, taking down photos and note cards, placing them into a box. After everything was placed neatly into a box, and the tech was all unplugged and the electrical cords were all neatly wrapped, Rossi and Derek began to load the back of the SUVs, while Emily comforted JJ. She was full on crying now. Spencer was still wracking his brain. This couldn't be the only thing they could do! They got into their respective SUV, Derek of course driving because he didn't trust Spencer or Rossi, and Hotch drove since Emily sat in the back with JJ holding her and rubbing her back as JJ sobbed in her shoulder. The motel was shit to say the least. It was a one story 70's style drive in, with 70's furniture. The desk clerk was a thin, gaunt woman who looked to be made out of bones. Her makeup was bright blue, with dull lipstick, when she checked in the BAU. They only had three rooms so they had to pair up. Of course, the couple had bunked together, JJ and Emily in the next room and the Hotch and Rossi in the room all the way at the end. Spencer found the room uncomfortable. It reminded him of something out of one of those horror movies that Emily liked to make him watch, but Derek tried to soothe him enough to sleep. Now, they were packing up. The air stood still as Spencer was shoving things into his go bag without any concern. This was very un-Spencer-like. He was always very meticulous. "What if they die because... because I couldn't figure it out?" He whispers into an old Zeppelin shirt that Derek had given him when they first met. "None of this is your fault, my love. Now get packed, and I'll let you read to me on the jet." Derek tried to reassure. Truthfully, Spencer loved nothing more than to read to Derek, the way his eyes lit up. "Alright, but I'm not convinced." He smiled, kissing his lover on his smooth lips. Letting the moment be stolen as Derek wrapped his arms around his waist and pull him in. The kiss was broken, and once again they were packing._ They were pulling up into the house, the truck shown lights straight into the living room. Clooney was at the neighbors, and they would get him tomorrow. Looking at the dash clock, it read 3:34. It was late, too late to bother the neighbors about the dog. "Derrrrr..." Spencer murmured, the alcohol setting in. Spencer was a sitting drunk. He was fine while drinking but after it materialized into his bloodstream, he was gone. "I WOVE YOU." He screeched. Holding his hands up in the "grabby hands" position, as Derek got out of the car to pick him up and carry him inside. "I knew I didn't drink for a reason," Derek smirked as he carried his lover bridal style inside their house. Turning on the lights, so Spencer didn't get scared. Spencer always had a fear of the dark. Derek had never asked, but he thought it was from his mom forgetting to pay the electric bill. They trudged into the bedroom. Laying Spencer on his back, while Derek riffled through the drawers to find sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Can you get undressed?" "A-Anything for you, daddy." Spencer hickupped and winked. Derek knew he was in for a long night when Spencer got stuck in his shirt and started to flail, falling off the bed. "Let me change you and then you can go to bed _,"_ _The plane had just taken off. The ride would be more than 7 hours, so of course it would be perfect to sleep. But all Spencer could think about was the man laying his head on his lap, as he read to him. Of course, Spencer wasn't only reading to him. JJ, who was a little calmer, was listening to the genius read as she laid on Emily who played with her hair, also listening. He read from Fahrenheit 451, one of the books he always had on him, reading with voices like his mother did. He looked up every now and then to create suspense. He loved to read to people, it was almost as much as his love of teaching or Derek. Suddenly, Garcia popped up on the screen in the middle on the Jet. Her_ _mascara was running, she was shaking and looking like she might be going into shock. "What's wrong ,baby girl?" Derek spoke first, but was cut off by a video being shown in place of the lovable tech analyst. The children, the ones from LA, with blood splattered around their cold, dead bodies. Their limbs were sprawled around them, in a circle, with their heads in the middle. The torsos of the body no were in the video. On the wall "ring around the Rosie" was written with blood. The children's eyes were open, and they were positioned to look at the camera. The video ended with an eerie voice saying, "This was just a warning."_


	2. S187R

The sun shown through the bay window that Derek had placed in the middle of the master suit for this reason. It illuminated the room with no need for electricity, plus it makes his pretty boy look angelic when he wakes up. His hair a mess on the pillow, drool slightly pouring out of his perfect plump limps as he twitches, whines and murmurs in his sleep.   
This morning though, Spencer wasn't beside him, that wasn't odd though. If Spencer had a nightmare and didn't want to worry about waking Derek he would go to the den to read or work on case files. Another thing he liked to do, which is the worst out of the scenarios , is walk around outside, and try to bring in stay animals. Usually getting pretty beat up in the process. It was the Reid effect, but cats loved him, and followed him, to the point that they had two already that he would sit and talk to and they seemed to understand. These cats were strays that Spencer had brought in.   
He had named them Edison and Tesla, since they always fought and he found it hilarious. Edison was a little white kitten with black paws, and Tesla was a orange tabby. Spencer had been trying to get this stray that he had named "Rumple" in since the day he found it. The cat had three legs, a missing eye, and it's teeth stuck out, but nevertheless Spencer loved it. Rumple would sit with him at the back porch and listen to stories, while Spencer would pet him. The cat was all black and no one in the neighbor seemed to like, or take any interest in it.   
Spencer didn't have pets growing up, and when Derek said he loved animals, Spencer took that as an invitation on to bring them all in. He has gone so far as to bring raccoons and possums in.   
"Kid, if you brought in another cat so help me god!" Derek moaned, running his hand down his fast as he flipped the comforter up. Spencer's side of the bed was perfectly made and tucked like Derek always did, but that is something that Spencer never did when he got up, in fear of waking the other man.   
"Why did you make the bed... you never do that," This time more awake, he was still wondering if Spencer may be out of it, or maybe trying to surprise him, but Spencer, so help him, was a man who stuck to his way and if anyone changed it even slightly he broke down.   
Derek got out of bed, grabbing his gun from inside the nightstand. His stomach dropped and he was just hoping that he wouldn't find Spencer like those children in the prior 24 hours. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he opened the bedroom door, scanning the hallway for any sign of life.   
————————————————————  
Bright  
No, no, that wasn't the correct word. Bright did not even seem to describe the blinding light that met aching eyes, causing almost instant backlash, whiplash if you will, as the eyes shut again. The light seemed to be coming from all around, illuminating what eyes could see, but all they could see was... bright.   
Squinting, the eyes tried again, this time, focused on what was outside of the brightness, anything to hold onto. Scanning the room, all that could be seen was white, perfectly painted white walls, a cot in, what one would suspect is the middle of the never ending brightness, that the eyes were laying on, a small stand, a door at the other end, which only looked like a door because it's sliver handle stuck out, and led panels lights lining the ceiling.   
Palming his hands into his eyes and rubbing, hoping to relieve whatever pain that was exploding in his head. He shook, trying to relive the tension. It felt like his skull was filled with tannerite, and the light was the ignition.   
"Derek!" Spencer called, regaining his senses, his mind finally snapping into place after the blinding migraine that he woke up to. "Derek where are we?" We... the word fell out as if it was a life line. When no response came, a lump in his throat formed, he could feel tears welling in his hazel eyes.   
Nausea came over him like being hit in the gut, no matter how much he tried to calm himself, he couldn't. He started to hyperventilate, the starting of a panic attack. Where was Derek? Was he hurt... or worse? He needed to know, and yet he didn't have enough information, he was useless, just like with those children.   
He began to rock back and forth on the cot. He heard the springs creak under him, letting everything slip away. His eyes still closed, as he palmed rougher and rougher into his eye sockets. He seen orbs in a kaleidoscope of color. Everything began to blur into one, as he sobbed.   
He didn't notice the foot steps in the room, or the soft thud on the stand, but who would when focused on trying to calm their breathing. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder, and he stilled, at first thinking he was imagining it. The hand was smaller than his fiancé's, so he knew that this wasn't an oxygen deprived hallucination. The hand squeezed his shoulder, it wasn't a comforting feeling, but he knew that wherever he was he wasn't alone. 

"Doctor Spencer Reid," a soft female voice came next to his ear. "Doctor, please look at me. I can turn down the lights if that helps, I know they hurt my eyes to," She said calmly, no falter. Spencer nodded without thinking, he just wanted the light gone. He wanted to be able to see what was around him. From what he could tell, he was not shackled, cuffed or otherwise bound, so if this woman did have something planned, he could gain the upper hand. Even though he knew he would never hurt a woman, he could surely disarm her and talk her down. 

She dimmed the lights with a nod, smiling, she saw him shakily take his hands away from his eyes. He scrunches his nose up and rubbed his eyes again to adjust to the light. She stood about a foot away from him, wearing white scrubs and white tennis shoes. White, he thought, if there is something I despise now . Rolling his eyes, he looked around the room again, making a mental note of everything incase they turned back on the blinding lights again. 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you work for the BAU unit of the FBI, you have three PhD's, 2 BA's but your working on your third and you're engaged to a, uh, Derek Morgan," She asked calmly as if she was giving a report and not stating facts about someone's life. She had long red hair that was in a bun, her eyes were covered in thick glasses, but they looked to be green. Spencer face began to heat up with annoyance. 

"Yes, and correct me if I'm wrong but you have Derek somewhere." He said, as calmly as he could, with fear creeping into his stomach. She smiled and pointed to the tray on the tabled. 

"Oh, no, no, dear doctor, your lover is still at home. Where you left him last night unbothered. He didn't make the qualifications, but you far exceed them." 

"What do you mean exceed qualifications? What am I here for? Is Derek safe can I call him?" The words come out like word vomit. If we are being honest, and I think we all know that we are, Spencer didn't care what happened to him as long as Derek was safe. He didn't show his protective side a lot, but when he did, it was scary. He would kill for Derek, die for Derek, he didn't care as long as Derek was safe. 

"All in good time. Please eat up, she doesn't like it when people do not eat. He is safe, he is," She stopped for a moment a looked at the door, then down at her feet, she had a earpiece in her ear. "He is in your house, with your dog Clooney, cats... Edison and Tesla. He thinks you went after something named 'Rumple'." She stated and smiled. She seemed very calm as if what she was doing was normal. 

"You had my house tapped!" Spencer spat, his anger getting the best of him. "How long? How long was my house tapped?" He was going to lose his mind, his anger seeping into all of his bones. 

"That's good doctor. That's a good reaction. Anger that is. 3 years, when you moved in with Derek. " She pointed to the food again, "Please, eat. It will help, you have been asleep for 7 hours, we didn't know if you would wake up today, you were very intoxicated." She stressed, her voice sounded like she was trying to help this time. 

She looked around, she closed her eyes. Spencer ran his hands along his face. She came next to him again and said, "Spencer, please eat, they will hurt you if you don't and I do not want you to get hurt. I've been the one who was listening and stalking your residence." He nodded, picking up a piece of white bread and smelling it before he took a bite. The last thing he needed was to be drugged. 

"Where am I?" He sighed, taking a bite of the bread. It tasted good after not eating all day, but Spencer knew that he could go days without eating. 

"We are called NBOP, we are a group of government scientist that are working on the betterment of the human race," She explained, pointing to the door at the other side of the room, "That is the bathroom, you will always find extra clothes in there, also your glasses and contacts are in there. There is a shower, sink and toilet. Laundry is done by staff, so is meals. Tomorrow, I will come back to collect you for your first activity, take today to rest." 

"Activity? Make a better human race? You truly believe that you can make a better human. Why choose me if you know me then. You know my mother is schizophrenic. " He reasoned, the little hope he held saying that he would be released. 

"Yes doctor, but you are not your mother. You have an IQ of 187. You are a genius. I have no idea what activities are, I am your nurse Nova, I will be with you when you are in your room but when you have activities it will be with the scientist and her." She seemed to fear whoever this woman was that she didn't refer to. 

"Who is she?" Spencer asked, taking a spoon full of Jello, he always had loved Jello. 

"Shhh, please, not so loud. She can hear. That is the only question that I will not answer, but you will meet her tomorrow." With that, she gave a smile, nodded again and was gone out of panel in the wall. Leaving Spencer all alone again. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing to show the Spencer had been up and active in the house. The coffee pot was off, Spencer unplugged it scared of fires. The cats had not been fed, and trust me, Derek heard all about it. He searched the den to see if any books had been moved, but they were all in place since the last time Derek had cleaned the den. Spencer would never admit to it, but Derek was always cleaning up after him. 

Derek put Clooney out in the backyard and slipped on some flip flops, hoping to find Spencer outside on the street talking to some animal without his glasses on. On his days off Spencer only wore his glasses. Leaving the house, Derek grabbed his cell. While walking his stomach began to ache worse by the seconds that he couldn't find Spencer. He went up and down the block, before finally backing down and calling the only person he knew who could help him. 

"Hello Adonis, what can I do for you on this lovely day," Penelope chirped, today was their first day off in months and he felt horrible calling her to ask her to do more work. 

"C-Can you track Reid's phone?" He could hear his voice crack, knowing that he was going to cry. 

"Sure thing, do you need me to come out? What happened?" She asked her fingers rushing, the keys sounding ominous to Derek. 

"The phone..." He cried, he couldn't snap on her and he knew that but this was the love of his life. 

"It's pining off of two cell towers in New York..."


End file.
